


Parenting like Daedalus

by StripedSunhat



Series: Single Father Klaus [12]
Category: Girl Genius (Webcomic)
Genre: Dysfunctional Family, Gen, Gil is firmly in the rebellious teenager stage, Klaus still hasn't course corrected, Pre-Canon, Why Gil needs therapy, Why Klaus needs therapy, Why Sparks need therapy, improper lab safety
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-18 16:30:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16998552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StripedSunhat/pseuds/StripedSunhat
Summary: And the spiraling, self-feeding void of bad reactions to the others actions have led us here.  Not an event particularly important, except that it exists; not a moment particularly memorable, except that it is now; not a decision particularly extraordinary except that it was entirely Gil's.It's that last one that gets Klaus the most, not that he realizes it.





	Parenting like Daedalus

The worst part was that he was absolutely fine.

Not that Klaus ever wanted Gil to be hurt. In fact if Gil had been hurt at all Klaus would have gone insane. Legitimately insane. However if Gil had ended up a bit scraped up, or even shook up, maybe he would have learned something. It would have been worth the hit to Klaus’s sanity if it only increased the chances – just a little bit, just the _barest_ of amounts – of Gil _thinking_ before he did something like this. Maybe even not doing it at all. Wouldn’t that be a miracle.

But no, instead Gil didn’t even have so much a scratch on him and was unrepentant bordering on insolent. He was a bit soot singed which should have helped Klaus’s case but so far all it had done was stain his office.

“What. In the _hell_ were you thinking?”

Gil hunched even lower in his chair and scowled. “It was a perfectly legitimate experiment.”

“I know what experiments look like Gil. They do not look like this.”

“I’m allowed to have scientific interests that devolve from yours. Not all of my experiments are going to look like yours.”

“If this is some misthought-out attempt at rebellion or bid for attention –”

“It was an invention! _My_ invention! And it worked!”

Klaus raised an eyebrow at his son. There was a time when that alone would have been enough to get Gil to see reason. Klaus missed those times. “ _This_ is what ‘worked’ looks like to you?”

“I’ll admit that it didn’t go quite as smoothly as I might have hoped. But there was still a lot of data to be learned from the test. And for a preliminary flight –”

Klaus sat straight up. “Preliminary? What, exactly, do you mean by _preliminary_?”

“Exactly what it sounds like Father," Gil said, crossing his arms. "I’m not going to scrap the entire endeavor just because it didn’t go perfectly the very first time.”

“It set itself on _fire_ while in _mid-flight._ ”

“Oh like you’ve never accidently lit anything on fire before. And I put it out.”

“You are not doing this again.”

“Yes I am.”

“No. You are not.”

“You can’t stop me.”

Klaus glared over at his son from across the desk. Gil glared right back. “I am very seriously considering _grounding_ you.”

Gil actually snorted. “Where?” he asked, tipping his chair back and kicking his feet onto the edge of the desk. “Besides, that would involve you actually looking up from the empire for more than two seconds to remember you even have a son.” He must have realized exactly how far over the line he’d just flung himself because he immediately straightened, bowing his head. “I’m sorry Father.”

Klaus let the silence stretch.

He let his son think about what he’d just said.

He let him fully contemplate his mistake.

Gil sat with his head bowed, perfectly still except for his hands, which twisted in their own grip. Every few seconds he forced them to stop only to almost immediately begin twitching again.

“Do not think that I couldn’t find somewhere.”

“I know.”

“There are other duties that require my attention. The empire doesn’t stop just because you want it to.”

“I know.”

“The world does not revolve around you Gilgamesh.”

“I’m sorry.”

A sigh escaped as he let himself slump slightly in his chair. “Clearly we need to go over lab safety. Again.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want you to be _sorry_ Gil. I want you to do _better_.”

“Yes Father.”

Klaus rubbed his forehead. “Honestly, I’m not sure even where to start when it comes to… _this_.”

“I can show you the safety measures I had in place. You can tell me where I was wrong.”

“Safety measures? You mean you actually had some? I can’t decide if that’s reassuring or worrisome.”

“I apologize Father.”

“You are banned from the labs until further notice.”

“Yes Father.”

“ _All_ of the labs. Not just the aeronautics labs.”

Gil finally glanced back up. As if to compensate, his shoulders hunched even further in on themselves. “Um…”

“What?” Klaus demanded. Gil flinched. Klaus should probably ease back some. He’d be more inclined to do so if Gilgamesh hadn’t literally thrown himself off of the airship in a deathtrap less than an hour ago.

“It’s just – I have an biological experiment running that needs daily tending. It’s stable, it won’t blow up or anything but it will be ruined if someone doesn’t monitor it. I don’t have to – I have notes. It doesn’t have to be me who monitors it; I could write up instructions. I’m not trying to talk my way back into the lab I promise. I just really don’t want my experiment to be ruined.”

Klaus let out a sigh. Part of him was sorely tempted to say no for what he could admit to himself was no real reason. He’d decided on a punishment and Gil already wanted to change it. That wasn’t how punishments work. But that wasn’t fair. Gil wasn’t trying to argue it. He was trying to work within Klaus’s declaration. And besides _any_ interests outside aeronautics should be fostered aggressively. “Get me a copy of all of your notes on it. I’ll watch over your experiment for you until you’re given lab access back.”

“Thank you Father.”

“You’re dismissed.”

“Yes Father,” Gil said, ducking his head. “You’ll have both sets of notes on your desk in the morning.” Klaus made a vague waving motion of acknowledgement.

Gil slipped out of the room and Klaus immediately reached for the gut-rot under his desk. He grabbed the largest glass he had before mentally saying screw it and took a swig straight from the bottle instead.

Why did the world hate him? He took another swig.

His son just had to develop an interest in heavier than air flight. Klaus was never going to have a moment of peace again.

**Author's Note:**

> Klaus totally has a tower. He made it after the events of 'Matter of Protection'. So yes, the hidden, secret prince Gilgamesh could very easily end up locked away in a tower created just for him.  
> He's even already in love with a prince.
> 
> On a separate note, would anyone be interested in seeing the test flight from Gil's perspective? Is that a thing you'd be interested in reading?


End file.
